The present invention relates to tailor-laminated metal sheet composites, and more particularly, to laminated metal sheet composites for use in motor vehicle door panels and the like in which stamped, thin sheet metal parts are bonded together into layers for meeting specific end-use requirements. The present invention also relates to the method and apparatus for making the aforementioned composites.
Composites used in the production of various vehicle parts and building components are well known as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,494,737, 6,258,438; 6,205,728; and 6,468,613. In current vehicle construction, tailor-made composites such as that shown in FIG. 5 are typically made of two blanks that are laser-welded at their edges to form a particular shape. This requires a blank A of much greater thickness, say 1.68 mm, than the thickness of blank B. In order to minimize problems resulting from poor welding, edge preparation of such blanks is very important. This preparation undesirably increases production costs and does not completely eliminate sealing problems which are inherent in multiple welded surfaces. Moreover, inconsistencies even in laser-welding result in noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) problems that detract from riding comfort. Conventional composites so produced are also undesirably heavy and increase vehicle weight.